Google Apps started with the simple idea that Gmail could help businesses and schools work better together without the hassles of managing software and servers. As we grew from a handful of customers to a few hundred, we expanded to offer a premium business version of Google Apps. Fast forward to today and Google Apps is used by millions of businesses. They've also added versions for governments, universities and schools.

When the premium business version was they kept their free, basic version as well. Both businesses and individuals signed up for this version, but time has shown that in practice, the experience isn't quite right for either group. Businesses quickly outgrow the basic version and want things like 24/7 customer support and larger inboxes. Similarly, consumers often have to wait to get new features while we make them business-ready.

With this in mind, they've decided to make things very straightforward. Starting December 6, 2012 for all new customers:

Individuals wishing to use Google's web apps like Gmail and Google Drive should create a free personal Google Account, which provides a seamless experience across all of our web services on any device.

For Businesses, instead of two versions, there will be one. Companies of all sizes will sign up for the premium version, Google Apps for Business, which includes 24/7 phone support for any issue, a 25GB inbox, and a 99.9% uptime guarantee with no scheduled downtime. Pricing is still $5/user/month.

Please note this change has no impact on Google's existing customers, including those using the free version. And as before, Google Apps for Education will be available as a free service for schools and universities. Also, as the first cloud productivity suite with FISMA certification, they'll continue to offer Google Apps for Government for $5/user/month.

With focus Google will be able to do even more for their business customers. We're excited about the opportunity to push Google Apps further so our customers can do what matters most to them–whether that's scooping ice cream, changing the face of healthcare or contributing to lifelong learning.

It's not clear why Google doesn't treat Google Tasks as a standalone service: it's integrated with Gmail, Google Calendar, there's an iGoogle gadget and a mobile version, but no standalone interface. The most recent update is that the iGoogle gadget has a canvas view that's displayed when you maximize the gadget.

The gadget lets you create multiple lists, use the toolbar to clear completed tasks or to reorder tasks, sort the tasks by due date and view a list of the completed tasks.

Google Apps Sync must be installed on each person's computer, who wants to use the plug-in. You have two options for installation:

Push an .msi file to your users and let them use the Run Advertised Programs option in the Windows Control Panel. Download the .msi file below—be sure to pick the correct one, based on your users' version of Outlook. For information on implementing the .msi file, consult your Windows documentation.

Importing: To migrate their old Outlook data to Google Apps, users also need a separate tool, Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Outlook®. Users who download Google Apps Sync version 2.1 or later from the download page get this migration tool, automatically. If you push Google Apps Sync to users via an .msi file, however, you'll need to push Google Apps Migration to them as well, or have them install the migration tool themselves. See below for details.

With Google Apps, users can use applications such as Gmail™ webmail service, Google Calendar™ calendaring service, Google Docs™ program, Google Sites™ web application, Google Talk™ instant messaging service, and Google Video™ for business on their own domain to work collaboratively more effectively. Hosted by Google, there’s no hardware or software to download, install or maintain. According to Google, more than two million business run Google Apps–and thousands more sign up everyday. As Google Apps Authorized Reseller, we sell, service and customize the Google Apps Premier Edition for our customers!

To get started, review the screenshot of the Google Apps Standard vs. Premium comparison chart below:

Standard and Premium Google Apps Services

Start Page: Begin by creating a personalized home page for all the office to use. Set up a customized domain start.yourdomainname.com . Add Google Gadgets to your home page. Google and 3rd parties have written a wide variety of Gadgets that do everything from tracking news feeds to playing games. You can pick and choose which Gadgets to display and move them just by dragging and dropping.

Gmail: Fast, searchable email with less spam. Set up email lists. Spam Filtering and Virus Protection are enabled and can’t be shut off so it prevents you from sending an executable file as an attachment.

Google Calendar: Share Calendars with staff and Gmail users. Using Google Calendar, you can add events and invitations effortlessly, share with staff, friends and family (or keep things to yourself), it’s organizing made easy. Gmail Integration Gmail now recognizes when messages mention events, and you can add those events to your calendar with just a couple clicks.

Premium ServicesThe free (Standard) version of Google Apps is nice by itself, but for $50 per user, per year, you can upgrade to the Premier Edition.The Premier Edition of Google Apps offers the same services as the Standard Edition with the addition of:

Up to 25 gigs of Gmail storage space per account

99.9% guarantee of email uptime

Ability to turn off AdSense ads in Gmail

Conference room and resource scheduling

APIs that can be integrated with your existing infrastructure

Email migration tools

Phone support

Third party applications and services

Postini mail management and recovery

These services can be blended into your existing domain and even branded with a custom company logo